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Asian Para Games: Selection of Indian badminton squad far too murky?

TimesofIndia.com has learnt that the initial list for the Indian para-badminton squad of 23 players for the coming Asian Para Games in Indonesia this October was trimmed to 11, allegedly to make room for officials. Tthe aggrieved players have written to the Badminton World Federation, asking for it to intervene in the matter.

| TIMESOFINDIA.COM | Updated: Aug 20, 2018, 16:51 IST

Highlights

The initial list of 23 selected players after a trial has been trimmed down to 11

Aggrieved players have written a strongly-worded complaint to Badminton World Federation

The players have alleged collusion between PCI and BAI to accommodate officials in the contingent

Representational Image (Getty Images)

NEW DELHI: The dust has hardly settled over controversies surrounding the selection of India's Asian Games contingent and now there is a fresh one, after the list for the Indian para-badminton squad for the coming Asian Para Games in Indonesia this October was announced.

TimesofIndia.com has learnt that the initial list of 23 players was trimmed to 11, allegedly to make room for officials -- one of them, in fact, was a player just three months ago.

But the PCI alleges Mohanty wasn't present at all during the selection trials and conducted it through a "third party". Hence, they nullified the selection and re-drafted the shortlist.

However, incredibly, despite PCI being unhappy with Mohanty, his name appears in the re-draft as Team Manager. It also includes the name of Gopinath Kalaimani, who was a player just three months ago.

Interestingly, both Mohanty and Gopinath did not appear in the initial list of 7 officials and 23 players. Their names were inserted in the re-draft, which raises further doubts over the transparency of the selection process.

Initial list of 23 players & 7 officials

As a result, the aggrieved players have written to the Badminton World Federation (BWF), asking for it to intervene in the matter.

"Mohanty colluded with a PCI official to get his name inserted as Team Manager," a player whose name was struck off said talking to
TimesofIndia.com.

"The final list was sent to Asian Para Games Committee before the deadline but not disclosed to us until mid-August, Also, how can Gopinath travel as an official? He is a player and now all of a sudden he is an official.

"The names have been struck off at will, without any knowledge about the sport or intimation to players. This will make it impossible for us to play some of the team events at the Games," the player added.

While Mohanty expressed surprise at his list of selected players being cut by more than half, PCI secretary general J Chandrashekar said Mohanty had requested for his name to be included as Team Manager.

"Chandrashekar sent me the final list of 11 players instead of 23 only two-three days ago," Mohanty told
TimesofIndia.com on August 18.

"I have objected and even raised the issue with PCI, DG SAI (Director General, Sports Authority of India) and the Sports Ministry about removal of the names," he asserted.

But when asked about his reaction to the written complaint players have made with the BWF, Mohanty offered a straight bat.

"I am not aware of that," he said.

Revised List of 11 players and 6 officials

Chandrashekar, on his part, provided some clarity over the list being trimmed to 11 from 23, but justified Mohanty's inclusion as Team Manager despite expressing unhappiness over the way he conducted selection trials.

"The list of players has to be cleared by the Sports Ministry. And as per our criteria, players should be within the cut-off Asian rank of No. 6 to be eligible for selection. A player can be included in a team event only if he/she satisfies the selection norms for individual events," Chandrashekar explained to
TimesofIndia.com.

He then mentioned a "third party" involvement in selection, refusing to elaborate further.

"Mohanty asked a 'third party' to conduct the trial. He should have done it in consultation with PCI, and we have enough proof he was not present there. I don't want to name the 'third party'," Chandrashekar said.

He also explained why Gopinath and Mohanty were included in the revised list as officials. A decision that has not gone down well with some players.

"We have appointed Gopinath as PCI observer. His travel expenses will be borne by us. Mohanty requested us to be included as Team Manager. As chairperson of para-badminton of late, it's best that he comes and takes a look," the PCI secretary general added.

The controversy first erupted in July when Siddanna Sahukar, No. 5 in India and 45th in the world para-badminton rankings, moved the Karnataka High Court, alleging he had not been informed about the selection trials in Bengaluru. After getting no replies to his mails seeking clarification over his non-inclusion, Sahukar sought legal help.

The row took a turn for the worse when the final list of 11 for the Asian Para Games was revealed to the players and they sent out a strongly-worded letter to the BWF, signed by 21 of them.

"On 14th August, 2018, when the High Court asked for the copy of list of players sent to APG (Asian Para Games), it is exposed that Mr. Mohanty had advised PCI to make a big modification in the Team, secretly cutting the players' list from 23 to 11 players and also dropped a few officials in order to add his name as Team Manager and a few of his associates as Team officials. In order to get support, Mr. Mohanty has added the name of current players based in Bengaluru as team officials," the players have alleged in their letter to the BWF President.

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